AMSTERDAM, 23 September 2025, 07:00 hrs CEST - Avantium N.V., a leader in renewable and circular polymer materials, announces that it has signed Memoranda of Understanding with Tereos, a global leader in sugar, starch, alcohol and bioethanol production, and with LVMH GAÏA, the scientific and environmental R&D division of LVMH Moet Hennessy - Louis Vuitton, the world leader in luxury. Together, the parties will establish a strategic collaboration to accelerate the industrial-scale production of PEF (polyethylene furanoate), Avantium's 100% renewable and circular performance polymer known under the brand name releaf®. Releaf® is made from plant-based feedstocks and can be applied across food & beverage packaging, cosmetic packaging, fashion and industrial fibers. This alliance unites Avantium as the inventor of releaf® with trailblazers Tereos and LVMH to scale bio-based plastics from plant-based resources, contributing to the transition away from fossil-based plastics.
The parties aim to form a European consortium, with plans to expand by including additional strategic partners over time. The consortium intends to build and operate the first industrial-scale facility in Europe based on Avantium's proprietary YXY® Technology, converting plant-based feedstock into FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) and FDCA-based polymers, such as releaf®. The project takes advantage of Tereos' plant-based feedstock, Avantium's proprietary YXY® Technology, while demand will be driven by partners including LVMH Gaïa.
This strategic initiative builds on the long-standing collaboration between Avantium, Tereos, and LVMH Gaïa within the EU-supported PEFerence consortium, which accelerates the shift from fossil-based to plant-based polyesters. It aligns with Tereos' ambition to develop green chemistry future value chains and Avantium's goal to license its YXY® Technology globally. It also supports the objectives of LVMH's LIFE 360 environmental program, which includes the ambition to progressively eliminate fossil-based plastics from packaging. This initiative is a concrete step in that direction.
Olivier Leducq, CEO of Tereos, comments: "We are proud to strengthen our collaboration with LVMH and Avantium. Tereos has made strong commitments for regenerative agriculture and decarbonization from the field to finished products, which are reflected in our Cultivate Net Zero customer offer. Today, our partnership marks a new step in the development of sustainable solutions for green chemistry markets."
"LVMH Gaïa was created to bring science and innovation at the service of sustainability across the LVMH Group. Our partnership with Avantium has already demonstrated the potential of renewable materials in luxury packaging. With this new step, we reinforce our LIFE 360 commitments, in particular our ambition to eliminate fossil-based plastics from packaging, while maintaining the highest standards of performance and aesthetics", adds Claude Martinez, President and CEO of LVMH GAÏA.
Tom van Aken, CEO of Avantium, says: "This partnership with LVMH and Tereos is an exciting step in our journey to bring releaf® to market at scale. It builds on our successful existing collaboration and reflects a shared commitment to accelerating the transition to renewable materials. By uniting expertise across luxury, agriculture, and green chemistry, we are not only advancing circular innovation but also laying the groundwork for a European industrial ecosystem that supports sustainable packaging and textile solutions."
About Tereos
The Tereos cooperative group, a union of 10,300 cooperative members, has recognized know-how in the processing of sugar beet, sugarcane, cereals and alfalfa. Operating from 38 industrial sites, with operations in 14 countries and with 15,600 committed employees, Tereos supports its customers as close to their markets as possible, with a broad and complementary range of products. Driven by its purpose "Cultivating a shared future for the Earth and Humankind by meeting essential daily needs", the cooperative is one of the 50 most committed companies in terms of emissions linked to forests, land and agriculture. In 2024, Tereos committed to a decarbonization roadmap validated by SBTi's FLAG Corporate Net-Zero Standard.
About LVMH
LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) is the world's leading luxury goods group. Its portfolio comprises over 75 prestigious brands across fashion, cosmetics, wines & spirits, watches & jewelry, and selective retailing. LVMH GAÏA is the LVMH Group's open, transdisciplinary scientific research and innovation organization, created in 2023 to address the environmental and technological challenges of the luxury industry. It brings together experienced scientists, engineers, and internal experts to conduct both fundamental and applied research. The goal is to develop sustainable materials, techniques, and experiences that align with the LVMH Group's LIFE 360 environmental strategy.
About Avantium
Avantium is a pioneering commercial-stage company focused on renewable & circular polymer materials. Avantium develops and commercializes innovative technologies for the production of materials based on sustainable carbon feedstocks, i.e. carbon from biomass or carbon from the air (CO2). The most advanced technology is the YXY® Technology that catalytically converts plant-based sugars into FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), the key building block for the sustainable plastic PEF (polyethylene furanoate). PEF is known under the brand name Releaf®, an EU registered trademark of Avantium. Avantium has successfully demonstrated the YXY® Technology at its pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, and is in the process of starting the world's first commercial plant for FDCA in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. Avantium works in partnership with like-minded companies around the globe to develop revolutionary renewable chemistry solutions from invention to commercial scale.
Avantium's shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels (symbol: AVTX). Avantium is incorporated in the Euronext Amsterdam SmallCap Index (AScX). Its offices and headquarters are in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
For more information:
Caroline van Reedt Dortland, Director Communications
+31-20-5860110 / +31-613400179
mediarelations@avantium.com
Aarne Luten, Head of Investor Relations
+31-625687714
ir@avantium.com
The parties aim to form a European consortium, with plans to expand by including additional strategic partners over time. The consortium intends to build and operate the first industrial-scale facility in Europe based on Avantium's proprietary YXY® Technology, converting plant-based feedstock into FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) and FDCA-based polymers, such as releaf®. The project takes advantage of Tereos' plant-based feedstock, Avantium's proprietary YXY® Technology, while demand will be driven by partners including LVMH Gaïa.
This strategic initiative builds on the long-standing collaboration between Avantium, Tereos, and LVMH Gaïa within the EU-supported PEFerence consortium, which accelerates the shift from fossil-based to plant-based polyesters. It aligns with Tereos' ambition to develop green chemistry future value chains and Avantium's goal to license its YXY® Technology globally. It also supports the objectives of LVMH's LIFE 360 environmental program, which includes the ambition to progressively eliminate fossil-based plastics from packaging. This initiative is a concrete step in that direction.
Olivier Leducq, CEO of Tereos, comments: "We are proud to strengthen our collaboration with LVMH and Avantium. Tereos has made strong commitments for regenerative agriculture and decarbonization from the field to finished products, which are reflected in our Cultivate Net Zero customer offer. Today, our partnership marks a new step in the development of sustainable solutions for green chemistry markets."
"LVMH Gaïa was created to bring science and innovation at the service of sustainability across the LVMH Group. Our partnership with Avantium has already demonstrated the potential of renewable materials in luxury packaging. With this new step, we reinforce our LIFE 360 commitments, in particular our ambition to eliminate fossil-based plastics from packaging, while maintaining the highest standards of performance and aesthetics", adds Claude Martinez, President and CEO of LVMH GAÏA.
Tom van Aken, CEO of Avantium, says: "This partnership with LVMH and Tereos is an exciting step in our journey to bring releaf® to market at scale. It builds on our successful existing collaboration and reflects a shared commitment to accelerating the transition to renewable materials. By uniting expertise across luxury, agriculture, and green chemistry, we are not only advancing circular innovation but also laying the groundwork for a European industrial ecosystem that supports sustainable packaging and textile solutions."
About Tereos
The Tereos cooperative group, a union of 10,300 cooperative members, has recognized know-how in the processing of sugar beet, sugarcane, cereals and alfalfa. Operating from 38 industrial sites, with operations in 14 countries and with 15,600 committed employees, Tereos supports its customers as close to their markets as possible, with a broad and complementary range of products. Driven by its purpose "Cultivating a shared future for the Earth and Humankind by meeting essential daily needs", the cooperative is one of the 50 most committed companies in terms of emissions linked to forests, land and agriculture. In 2024, Tereos committed to a decarbonization roadmap validated by SBTi's FLAG Corporate Net-Zero Standard.
About LVMH
LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton) is the world's leading luxury goods group. Its portfolio comprises over 75 prestigious brands across fashion, cosmetics, wines & spirits, watches & jewelry, and selective retailing. LVMH GAÏA is the LVMH Group's open, transdisciplinary scientific research and innovation organization, created in 2023 to address the environmental and technological challenges of the luxury industry. It brings together experienced scientists, engineers, and internal experts to conduct both fundamental and applied research. The goal is to develop sustainable materials, techniques, and experiences that align with the LVMH Group's LIFE 360 environmental strategy.
About Avantium
Avantium is a pioneering commercial-stage company focused on renewable & circular polymer materials. Avantium develops and commercializes innovative technologies for the production of materials based on sustainable carbon feedstocks, i.e. carbon from biomass or carbon from the air (CO2). The most advanced technology is the YXY® Technology that catalytically converts plant-based sugars into FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), the key building block for the sustainable plastic PEF (polyethylene furanoate). PEF is known under the brand name Releaf®, an EU registered trademark of Avantium. Avantium has successfully demonstrated the YXY® Technology at its pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, and is in the process of starting the world's first commercial plant for FDCA in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. Avantium works in partnership with like-minded companies around the globe to develop revolutionary renewable chemistry solutions from invention to commercial scale.
Avantium's shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels (symbol: AVTX). Avantium is incorporated in the Euronext Amsterdam SmallCap Index (AScX). Its offices and headquarters are in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
For more information:
Caroline van Reedt Dortland, Director Communications
+31-20-5860110 / +31-613400179
mediarelations@avantium.com
Aarne Luten, Head of Investor Relations
+31-625687714
ir@avantium.com
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